Four years ago, almost every graduating senior in the country was deprived of the opportunity to celebrate his achievement as the COVID-19 pandemic canceled graduations everywhere.

Now, after four years of waiting for the chance to celebrate their college graduations, seniors at Columbia University and the University of Southern California are once again being deprived of a traditional commencement experience. But this time, it is because of pure cowardice from authorities.

On Monday, Columbia announced that it will cancel its 2024 commencement, the second school to do so after USC announced a similar action last month. Both institutions have cited the disruptive environment on campus caused by anti-Israel protests and encampments as the reason for their decision to cancel their respective ceremonies.

For Columbia and USC’s class of 2024, this shameful news could not be crueler. These students are the same students who were deprived of a high school graduation ceremony in 2020 and are now doomed to the same fate as they graduate from college. For most of them it will mean they never got to experience a real graduation ceremony.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

But this time it is different. Four years ago, the entire world shut down, and every school had to cancel their ceremonies. This time, the cancellation of commencement exercises is an entirely avoidable mess. Columbia and USC are perfectly capable of handling the disruptions and ensuring that students are afforded the opportunity to celebrate their academic achievements. Instead, these schools are choosing the coward’s way out by bowing to mob tactics rather than standing up for their students.

Rather than cancel their commencement ceremonies, Columbia and USC could have ensured that security was in place so that these events could go off without a hitch. Sure, there would have likely been a disruptor screaming some slogan, but those disruptions can easily be dealt with and the ceremony can go on. The high school class of 2020 at least deserved that. Instead, they’ll have to settle for being the only class of students that lost out on both of their graduations.